Karnataka home minister gets underworld threat

George said most operators used Voice over Internet Protocol and made international calls to businessmen.

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BANGALORE: Karnataka home minister KJ George on Tuesday claimed he had been getting threat calls from the underworld.

"I'm not scared because I believe birth is accident and death is certain," George said, replying to Sunil Kumar (BJP) during question hour in the legislative assembly.

Kumar had sought to know what action the police had initiated against increasing threat calls from the underworld to affluent persons in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. George admitted that new operators were surfacing not just in the coastal districts but also in Bangalore and making calls to extort money from businessmen.

George said most operators used Voice over Internet Protocol and made international calls to businessmen. He said police have identified some of these goons but refrained from naming them.

"We're involving various agencies to track them. I'm confident police will bring these operators to book and protect citizens," he said, adding, "We're in touch with Interpol to trace the threatening calls by underworld dons living in foreign countries and operating from there."

George appealed to businessmen or politicians receiving such calls to lodge complaints and cooperate with police so that they can give them protection.

Earlier, George said that in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts alone, 22 such incidents were reported in the past three years. In four cases, 12 members of a gang had been arrested, while the C-report (closure) was filed in 10 cases. When Kumar sought to know what had happened to the remaining 18 cases, George said they're under investigation.

Kumar said threat calls have become a menace in coastal districts. Citing the murder of cooperative leader of Ankola R N Nayak, Visveshwara Hegde Kageri (BJP) said: "In Uttara Kannada district, even police are terrified of their activities."